BRISTOL, TN – King University scored the final eight points of overtime to rally for a 94-87 win over Francis Marion University, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 5) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
FMU (11-8, 10-7) will return home to host three contests next week, beginning with a Tuesday night (5:30 p.m.) match-up with Chowan University.
 
Patriot sophomore center Lauryn Taylor registered her sixth double-double of the season with team-high totals of 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Junior guard Scarlett Gilmore scored 18 points, while freshman Jada Richards posted 12 points with her second consecutive game of making four three-pointers.  Junior Zaria Woods added 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
Trinity Lee led King (10-7, 9-5) with 26 points and six rebounds, while Brianna Dunbar and Ryleigh Fritz scored 19 and 18 points respectively.
 
In the overtime, a three-pointer by Gilmore with 1:42 left staked the Patriots to an 87-86 lead, but King held FMU scoreless the remainder of the contest while scoring the last eight points.
 
A Gilmore three-pointer gave Francis Marion an early 12-7 advantage, but King scored five straight to knot the score.  Later in the opening period, Richards hit a three-pointer to give the Patriots a 20-14 lead.  FMU led 20-16 at the end of the quarter.
 
A lay-in by Woods just 1:20 into the second period extended the Francis Marion margin to 26-18, but King answered with an 8-0 run to tie the score.  The Tornado would hold a slim 37-36 edge at halftime.
 
The third period featured four ties and ended with King holding a 60-57 advantage.
 
A three-pointer by Richards with 4:10 left capped an 8-0 spurt by the Patriots that resulted in a 73-69 lead.  The margin remained four (77-73) after two free throws by sophomore point guard Aniyah Oliver with 1:09 remaining.  However, Fritz scored on a lay-up, and following an FMU turnover, she hit two free throws to tie the contest at 77-77 with 17 seconds left.  Francis Marion had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a last-second three-point attempt was no good.
 
FMU connected on 41.8 percent of its field goal attempts, including 9-of-25 three-point shots, while King shot 42.9 percent from the floor, including 9-of-22 from behind the arc.  Francis Marion hit 12-of-14 free throws, but the Tornado drained 25-of-33 freebies.
 
 
02/05/22 2:00 pm at Bristol, TN
KING (TN) 94, FRANCIS MARION 87  OT
FRANCIS MARION (11-8,10-7 Confer)
Lauryn Taylor 8-15 4-4 21; Scarlett Gilmore 7-17 1-2 18; Jada Richards 4-9
0-0 12; Zaria Woods 4-7 3-4 11; Aniyah Oliver 3-6 2-2 8; Jasmine Stanley 4-6
0-0 8; Kiana Lee 1-5 2-2 5; Jasmyne May 1-5 0-0 2; Janiyah Hagood 1-4 0-0 2;
Ke'Onna Bryant 0-1 0-0 0; MiLeia Owens 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 33-79 12-14 87.
KING (TN) (10-7,9-5 Confere)
Trinity Lee 9-11 4-5 26; Brianna Dunbar 5-14 7-12 19; Ryleigh Fritz 5-11
8-10 18; Caroline Harville 4-8 0-0 8; Desiree Bates 1-7 6-6 8; Jhayda
McKinney 2-6 0-0 5; Jada Campbell 2-5 0-0 5; Madee Denton 1-4 0-0 3; Jaden
Potts 1-2 0-0 2; Madison Worley 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-70 25-33 94.
Francis Marion.............   20   16   21   20   10  -   87
King (TN).....................   16   21   23   17   17  -   94
3-point goals--Francis Marion 9-25 (Jada Richards 4-9; Scarlett Gilmore 3-5;
Kiana Lee 1-1; Lauryn Taylor 1-2; Jasmyne May 0-1; Janiyah Hagood 0-2;
MiLeia Owens 0-2; Aniyah Oliver 0-3), King (TN) 9-22 (Trinity Lee 4-5;
Brianna Dunbar 2-6; Madee Denton 1-1; Jhayda McKinney 1-4; Jada Campbell
1-2; Madison Worley 0-1; Jaden Potts 0-1; Desiree Bates 0-2). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-Zaria Woods; Aniyah Oliver, King (TN)-None.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 38 (Lauryn Taylor 10), King (TN) 45 (Caroline
Harville 10). Assists--Francis Marion 14 (Zaria Woods 5), King (TN) 11
(Caroline Harville 4). Total fouls--Francis Marion 23, King (TN) 17.
Technical fouls--None. A-256